Life on Wheels [SPECIAL EDITION] Week 73 – Enough Is Enough!

On Saturday, 20th Nov 2010, ten thousand protesters joined a march calling for the immediate withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan. Ceasefire contributor Jody McIntyre was one of the speakers. This is his speech.

Saturday 20th November, in Trafalgar Square, at a demonstration of thousands of people against the war in Afghanistan:

To paraphrase the words of Commandante Marcos, of the Zapatista movement, there is now no detergent, that could wash the blood from the hands of our government.

They tell us to celebrate, to celebrate a victory in Afghanistan. But to ignore the failure of the hundreds of bodies of British soldiers lying in coffins. They tell us to celebrate, to celebrate the toppling of the oppressive Taliban.

But to ignore the women raped and maimed by the Northen Alliance we have installed. They tell us to celebrate, to celebrate freedom of speech in Afghanistan. But to ignore the thousands of Afghani children our bombs have slaughtered.

Let us not be fooled by the media’s attempts to divide our government’s wars into “good wars” and “bad wars”. Palestine was a symptom, Kashmir was a symptom, Diego Garcia was a symptom, Kosovo was a symptom, and Iraq and Afghanistan are still symptoms, of the cancer of British and American imperialism and racism spreading across the planet.

Just as the EDL terrorise our communities at home, from Manchester, to Birmingham, to Whitechapel, and to Tower Hamlets, the British Army are busy terrorising communities from Basra to Baghdad, and from Kandahar to Kabul. There is only one difference, the EDL are not armed with bombs that destroy cities, but the British Army are.

So now, just as the Zapatistas said in southern Mexico, the people of Iraq say, the people of Palestine say, the people of Afghanistan say… Ya Basta! Enough is enough! Enough is enough!